Gear-shifting and car-locking mechanism for motor vehicles



Dec. 1, 1925 l. K. TUERCK GEAR SHIFTING AND om Locxmcf` MECHANISM- FonMOTOR VEHICLES Filed July 14. 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet l y Dec. 1, 1925-1,563,807

I.K.TUERCK GEAR SHIFTING AND CAR LOCKING MECHANISM FOR MOTOR VEHICLES 2Sheets-Sheet 2 l. 756mm.' v

ATTORNEY 505 in'wholly automatic.

Patented Dee, l;

PATENT OFFICE.

:om norman runncx, or 'roar'mmonneom enen-sanremo AND can-'Lacrimenncna'msnvron xo'ron Application filed'July 14, 1924. SeriaI'Nvo. "le.

To'all 'whom t may concern:

Be `it `lmown that I, IOHAN KONRAD TUERGK, a citizen of the UnitedStates, a resident of Portland, in the county of Multnomah and State ofOregon, lhave invented certaimnew and useful Improvements in vGea'rShiting and Car-Locking Mecha,- nism for Motor Vehicles, of whichthe following is a specification.

Mypresent invention relates `to the art of motor vehicles. Such vehiclesare usually provided with sliding gear transmissions, emergency brakes,and a suitable steering mechanism including a steering post tube.

I i l5 Thel general practice at the present; day in automobileengineering is to provide a lever for eifectin the selective shifting of.the gears, whic lever is usually located adjacent tothe emergency brakelever at the drivers right and projects up through the Hoor board of thecar. In bringing a carto a .standstill it is the practice to shift thegears to a-neutral posit1on, and if the car is to z be parkedto thenapply the emergency brake. This makes two operations, oneuthe gear shiftto neutral and the other-the application of the emergency brake. 4 .Qneof the objects of the present invention is to provide a means wherebythe usual 3 brake lever,the usual emergency shift lever andthe usualgear'shift lever ma be, if desired, dispensed with entirely, an a gearshifting lever rovided which may b'eused not only to hold) the gearshifting mechanism secured in the neutralposition or to shift such gear,but it may be used. atthe same time to set and hold'the emergency brake.

` A further object Aof the invention is t0 combine with this gearshifting and brake o applying lever, a locking device by which, once thelever isset t0 V secure the gears in neutral and to appl the emergencybrake,

the said lever itself he ment, thereby' effectively locking the machineagainst-unauthorized use.

not4 be vthrown into the reverse while 'the machine is ascendinga grade,the action bef y-fnv'ention also has for lan object to provide suchlmechanism as above outhned that can 'be mounted onthe steering tubestruction, combination and arrangement of locked against move-A'lstantlally the line 2-2 of Figure 1.. Again my invention has for anobject to lprovide mechanism whereby the gears can beneath the steeringwheel in a convenient and easily accessible'place so that the ing of thegears, etc., may be effected-by the operator without the necessity ofhim reach'- ing over to grasp the lon gear .shifting lever now commonlyemp oyedin automobiles. f 1

In lits general nature. the invention comprises a air of selectorshafts, -journaled vin suitab e bearings adjacentV the steering posttube, a selecting and operating level' tube mounted on the st'eerinpost' tubebeneath the steering Wheel, sul lever Vhaving movement so thatit may be bbrought into co`- operation vvith either selector shaft toturn the same; there is provided means associated with 4the lever andconnected with theJO emergency brake by which, on moving the lever to acertain osition the emergency brake lwill be app 'ed an \hel'd applied;the invention also provides eans whereby when the o erating leveris ovedto apply the brake 1t will at the sa e time become interlocked withtheselective shafts and` hold them both-'a' inst turning; a catch isfurthermore rovided to hold automatically the'unselecte shaft lagainstturning while -the selectedshaft is being manipulated.

The invention 'further provides means, v automatically controlled, toprevent the selecting and operating lever. being moved .to the reverseposition while the ca'r is on 85 the up-graden In its more detailednature, lthe invention A 1also embodies those novel features ofconparts, all of which will be first fully de scribed, then bespecifically pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

-Figure 1 is an elevation and art section showing m invention as mounteon a steering post tu ,y

F1 ure 2 isa horizontal sectionfon sub- Fi re 3 isA a vertical sectiontaken subf stantlally on the line 3-3 on Figure 1. Figure 4' is a detailperspective view of .a portion of one of the shifting elements and itshead.

Figure 5 is a .detail perspective view of a portion of the othershifting element and l its llad. I 4

i steeringl post tube socket member 2 iii-whichv dot and In thedrawings, in which I have illus-y trated onee'mbodiment only .of myinvention,

like numeralsv and letters of reference 'in`di cate like parts in'allthe figures.

. 1 represents thebase or support :for th the steering post tube 3 is4supported in' the' usual manner. Another soc et member 4 lserves asoneof the bearings for the gear shifti elements 5y and 6 by which theshifting ro 7 and 8 located in the transmission gear box 9 are actuatedthrough suitable lever and rod connections 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15respectively.

In the drawin s I have but diagrammatcally indicated t e parts 7 to 15inclusive as they may be of anydesired form or construetion which willserve theintended purpose, and as they per se constitute no art of mypresent invention, more detailed illustration thereof 'is thought to' beunnecessary.

The gear shifting elementsf 5 and.- 6, preferably, consist of twoshafts, one, 5, being hollow and the other, 6, being located within theshaft 5. At the upper extremities the shafts n 5 and 6 are supported bya bracket 16A which.

' is 'secured' in any suitable way to the tube 3 and a bearing 17 forthe shaft 5. The

'bmckct 16 also is provided with a bearing "sleeve 18 on which theselecting and operating levers bracket member is swlvelly The bracket19has-fprojections 20' which are-spaced apart torec'eive the selectingand operating lever 21, thella'tter being pivoted I ftofthebracketprojections 20 at 22.

present y understood.

' locatedstops 35 and 35 located on The shaft 5 has a head 23 thatis`provided with a cross slot 24 while the shaftl 6 has a headf'25 with saced ears 26 and a Islot27 betweenthem. It also has a-slot 28diametrically -o positeto theslot 27 for a 29 is a housing which is iatto' the tube 3. 31 designates ears in which n lever 21 has an .arcuate37 adapted to cooperate with the .slot and lug 27 and 26 end with theslot 94. It .lso

pted to cooperate'withthe' slot 24 and .withthelstch wing It also 'isadapted to cooperate with the tin-vgsi-.89 of the rod 40 which, when therod 40 isrsised, rocks crank 41 thea detail perspective view ofl dot anddash position, see Fi Assunie the 1in the dotand ash lineinFigm 2.iInthi's' bidding., .u *he .Y manipulalt messer tension of the releasespring '42 to ull the rod 40 that sets the emergono bra e (not shown andwhich may be of t ev usual con-.

struction). 'Dhe rod 40 is mounted' in suitable guides'44 and thehousing 29 is slotted to permit the finger 39 to lie within thehousing-at'all times.

The-housing has aslot 45 through which the finger 38 'of the lever 21can pass to enge theger 439 'and effect theraisingjsnd wering of thelrod 40.

f *a will be observed the whenue'rlever 21 is in the fully loweredposition (see. dot and `dash line, Figure 1) it will"`be`" located atright -anglesto the finger `Sil-andthus act as an abutment to hold the'rod-40 'elevated and l'the emergency brake applied.

In order to lock-the lever 21. -in the posxtion shown 'in 'dot'snd dashlines in F1 re 1 and thereby `klick the machine,i. e., ook the emergencybrake and `lock the shafts 5 and 6,-1 provide a suitable lookin device46 (the specific construction of whic ,so far as my presentinventionisconcerned, is not material) hav' 'abolt or lug 47 thatcan be broughtinto sigg out of the path of the finger 38 so as to vsecure it, whendesi7red, in the re Inorder to prevent the. accidental shift of thegears 'to the reverse when ascen ing a more orless steep grade, Iprovide ahousing extension '48 to which is pvotedfat 49 a trigger-likelever 50, the housing being slotted to permit. the lever 50 toprojectinto the housing. lever- 50 in the raised position, the liftingmovement;l being limited by a stop 52.

,Within the casing 48 vis a' ball 53 and the housingv is so located witht tothe hori'zontaljplane that with the vehicle runf:

` ning on'the level".(roron` a slight up-grade) spring 51 servesnormally to holdv the the. ball will b e' located at the outerelidl of vthe casing and will not aiect the position of the leverO'. .When thevehicle is'on an upvadeiofj auch lptch' as may be decided el wr, -run'jback and', depress the 4lever 50 b its end, 54 into the pathoftheendias* f t e fingeres of the.' lever 2.1,

thus preventin swung in the Figure'2 (the reverse position) arts tobe'locat'edfasshown position: the shafts 5i and 6.--belo'ckedAags'instturnin Aby the arcuate heeltl'fwhich at thisf'time is'f coatedin theslots-Qrand 24 the' lever 21 irection oit-thevtrowm in between,the ears e6-fand. whchi n t finger :39 of1v to leave the lever.' 21free tobe roclred on its horizontal axis22 from theposition .shown in-dot and dash lines in Fi the position shown in dotted lines 1n FigurerelV to 1. In moving tothe dotted line position of Figure 1 the inger 38of the lever 21 becomes located inthe slot 24 while the heel 37 iswithdrawn from betweenthe slots 24 and 27 and from between the ears 26.As the finger 38 enters the slot 24 its end`will en gage the wing latch33 and depress it from l its position lin the slot 24 down into the slot28, in which position it is held by the linger ,38 until the shaft 6 isturned somewhat so that the head- 23 lies over the latch 33, 'at whichtime the head 23 serves to hold the latch 33 down in the slot 28.

When the lever 21 has been moved to the dotted line position of Figure 1it will be noted it is operatively connected with the `head 23 and maybe turned upwardly or backwardly on the .axis of the shaft 6. If turnedin 'one direction the shaft 6 is operated through the intermediateconnections to Aeliect the throwing in of the reverse ear.-

It moved in the opposite direction the rst gear is brou'ght into mesh.In order to shift into the second and third gears the lever 21 is movedto the full line position of Figure 1, at whichl it will lbe seen theheel 37 again enters between the lugs 26 in the slot 27 while the iinger38 rides out of the s lot 24.

-If this occurs, the slots 24 and 28 area ain in alignment, `thewing-latch 33 is raise by spring action .back again into the slot 24 tohold the shaft 6 stationary. Now the lever 21 is connected up Ywith theshaft 5 and by i' moving' the lever 21 forwardlylor backwardly, eitherthe second. or high (third) gear:

is brought into position. f f As before explained if vthe lever 21 is inthe dotted position shown in Figure l.'` and the car is travelling up asteep (more or less) grade, and an attempt is made to move the lever 21so as to throw in the reverse gear it reverse gear when it should not bedone.

In order to hold the lever 21 from droping down I may provide a suitablecounteralance spring 5 5 which will be of suicient tension to overcomethe weight of the lever and tend to hold it in the elevated position.

From the foregoingdeseription, taken in connection with theaccompanying' drawings, itis thought that the construction, operationand advanta s of my invention will be clear-to those ski ed in the art,and I de sire it understood that I have illustrated in these drawingsbut one embodiment of4 my invention and that changes in the details ofconstruction, combi-nation and arrangement in the shown of psagae., mybe rWithin tremp of the invention and` that o f theappended claims.

W'hatI claim i 1; In apparatus ofthe classdescribed,ithe

combination with Aa plurality oflge'a selectin'g shafts, aV shiftinglever adapted vto selectively operatelsaid shafts, meansto hold theVshaft not selected against, action during i operation of the selected shaft,'and' means restraining said" lever against moving one-of saidshafts in one of two directions when the apparatus as a whole is locatedat a. predetermined inclination to the horizontal.A

2. In apparatus of the class described, thel combination offr a pair of"sliding-geartransmission-selector-shafts, an emergency--bi'ake-operating-rod, a mechanism -or selectively operating saidlshafts for" holding the same against action' and effecting brake apjplying movement of saio operating rod, lsaid mechanism includin "asingle lever and means by which sai lever may be brought in to'operative relation eitherV with said I emergencybrahe operating rodxorsaid slidingear-transmissionvselector-shaits' alter-` nate y to operatethe sameaccordingly as said lever is moved to one position or* another.

3. In' apparatus of .the class described, the combination o a pair ofslidable-geartransmission-lector-shafts, an emergencybrakeoperating.rod,a mechanism 'for' selectively operating said shafts-- for holding thesame against action andeiecting brake applying movement of saidoperatingrod,

4said mechanism including a single lever and means by which said levermay be brought into operative relation either with' said emergencybra-ke operating rod or said slidinggear-transmission-selector-shaftsalternately to operate the sameaccordingly assaid lever 'is -mioved toone position or another, and means for locking. ther-said lever in aposition to holdasaidfs'hafts 'against action and saidbrake-`operatingrod inthe brake-applying position.-

' i 4. In a motor vehicle-wherein is provided a slidinggeartransmis'sionof the selective type employing a plurality of shiftingelelments, and wherein is provided an einergency brake mechanism to holdVthe vehicle at rest; the combination of a single gear shifting andemergency brake applying lever with means connecting said lever'withsaid shifting elements and with said brake mechanism whereby said levermay be used to shift sai'd elements or .operate said emer gency brake asthe lever is in one position or another, and locking 'mechanism adaptedto hold said lever ina position to retain said Vshitting elements in aneutral or inoperative relation and to` hold said emergency' brakeapplied position .In

substantially as king said shitin 5. In apparatus of the classdescribed, the. combination with' gear shifting-elements, and anemergency brake applying element of a motor vehicle or the like, asingle gear selecting and emergency brake applying lever, meanscooperatively associating said lever with both said shifting elementsand with said brake applyin element in virtue of which said lever may emanipulated for operating said shifting elements or actuating at rest;.a single ear shifting and emer gency brake applying lever, operativeconnectionsbetween said lever and said shifting elements and betweensaid lever and said brake, and a lock device cooperative with said leverfor locking said emergency brake in the applied position and saidshifting elements against movement'.

7 In a motor vehicle wherein is provided" -a shding gear .transmissionmfthe selective type employing a plurality of lshifting ele- `-ments andwherein is provided an emergency brake mechanism-to hold the' vehicle atrest;` a single ear shifting and emergency brake applying lever,operative lconnections between said lever-and said shifting elements andbetween said lever and said brake, and meansto locksaid shiftingelements in a neutral position and at the same t time hold said einerency brake applied.

`8. In a motor vehicle wherein is provided *y a sliding geartransmission, a steering mounted adjacent said w eel 'for'selectivelyoperating one or another of said gear shift-- Aing elements accordinglyVas said lever is in one position or another, and means whereby Y vtheunconnected head against movement wheel, an emergency brake; gearshifting elements and' a `brake applying element mounted adjacent tosaid wheel, a selecting and gear-shit-element-o erating lever also saidlever may be moved to hold said vshifting element inactive and applysaid emergency brake.

9. In a motor vehicle lwherein is provided a sliding gear transmission,a steering wheel, Van emergency brake; gear shifting elements and abrake applying element' mounted adjacent t'o said wheel, a selectingandgear-shift-element-operating lever also mounted adjacent said wheel forselectively operating one or another of said gear shiftingelementsaccordingly as said lever is in Y one position or another, and meanswhereby said lever may be moved to hold said shiftpivotally'an vided asliding gear' transmission, a steering wheel, an emergency brake; gearshifting elements and a brake applying element mounted. adjacent to saidwheel, a selecting and gear-shiftelement-operating lever' also mountedadjacent said wheel for selectively operating one or another of saidgear shifting elements accordingly as said leveris in one position oranother, andmem whereby .said lever may be moved to holdl said shiftingelement inactive and apply said emergency brake, said means includingmechamsm for reventing said lever from operating saidrake applyingelement'until said shifting elements are brought to a neutral position.I

1l. In motor vehicles wherein is-.provided a selective geartransmissionand I a steering post tube; a pair of 0rearshifting shafts mountedadjacent to-sald tube, one of said shafts turning within theother, e/achof said shafts havingv heads provided with slots, a

swivelly mounted selecting and operating lever associated with saidshaft heads and havin 'portionshadapted alternately lto enter t e Slotso the respective heads to connect the lever ith one or the other of saidheads, andin ans for holding the unconnected head against movement whenthe lever is turned to 'move the (connected head, substantially asvdescribed.

12.y In motor Ivehicles wherein is provided ajselective geartransmission and a steering post tube; a pair of gear shifting shaftsmounted adjacent to saidv tube, one of said shafts turning within theother, each of said shafts having heads provided with slots, a pivotallyand swivellymounted selecting and operating lever associated with saidshaft heads and havin portions adapted alternately to enter e slots ofthe respective heads to connectthe lever with one or the other of vsaidheads, and means for holding when the lever is turned to move theconnected head, said last named .means includ- `ing a latch device toenter Ithe respective slots of the heads, means continuously tending tohold said latch-device in the slot of one head, said latch deviceadapted to be engaged by the lever to move it into thev slot ofthe-other head at times, substantial-v ly as speciiied.

13. In motor vehicles wherein is provided a selective gear transmissionand a steering post tube; a pair of ear shifting shafts mounted adjacentto said tube, one of sald 'shafts turning within the other, each of saidshafts having heads provided with slots, a pivotally and swivellymounted selecting and operating lever associated with said shaft headsand having portions adapted alternately to enter the slots of therespective heads to connect'the lever with one or the other of saidheads, and` means for holding the unconnected head against movement whenthe lever is turned to move the connected head, said last named meansincluding a latch device to enter the respective slots of the heads,means continuously tending to hold said latch device in the' slot of onehead, said latch device adapted to be engaged bythe lever to move itinto the slot of the other head at ti1nes,fan emergency brake shiftingrod with which said lever is adapted to cooperate to apply the emergencybrake when said lever 1s in a. prede-.

termined position, said lever having provision to-enter the slotsofdboth heads when in the emergency, brake applying position thereby tohold said heads against turning when the brake isapplied. u

14. In motor vehicles wherein is provided a selective gear transmissionand a` steering post tube; a pair of gearshifting shafts mountedadjacent to said tube, one of said shafts turning within the other, eachof said shafts having headsrovided with slots, a. pivotally and swive lymounted selecting and operating lever associated withsaid' shaft headsand having portions adaptedY alternately to enter the slots of therespective heads to connept the lever with one orthe other of saidheads, and means-for holding the unconnected head against movement whenthe lever' is turned to move the connected headsaid last named meansincludin a latch device to enter the respective 4slots o the heads,means ncontinuously tending to hold said latch device in the slot of onehead, said latch device adapted to be engaged by the lever to move itinto the slot of the other head at times, an emergency 4 brake shiftingrod with whichsaidlever is ada ted to cooperate to apply the emergencyrake when said lever is in a predetermined position, said lever havingprovision to enter the slots of both heads when in the emergency brakeapplying position thereby to hold said heads against turning when thebrake is applied, and a lock device for holding the lever in said lastnamed position.

15. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with aplurality of gear selecting shafts, a shifting lever adapted toselectively operate said shafts, means to hold the shaft not selectedagainst action during operation of the selected shaft, and meansrestraining said lever against moving one of said shafts in one of twodirections when the apparatus as a whole' is located at a predeterminedinclination to the horizontal, said restraining means comprisin agravity controlled stop device adapted togbe projected into the path ofs aid'shifting lever. when the apparatus as a whole is inclined asstated. I l .l

16. In apparatus of the class described, the combination with aplurality of gear selecting shafts, a shifting lever adapted toselectively operate said shafts, means to hold the shaft not selectedagainst action during operation of the selected shaft', and meansrestraining said lever against moving one of said shafts in one of two dctions when the apparatus'as a whole located at a predeterminedinclination to the horizontali said restraining means comprising apivote e stop, means normally holding said stop out of the path ofmovement of said shifting le- I OHAN KONRAD -TUERcKf

